Snow
by ShawnOfFiction
Summary: When Boruto embarrassed both himself and his father during his first run at the chunin exams, he thought he knew the heights of pain. Then, Mitsuki began dating Himawari, and his heart ached all the more. Now, still young and thinking he knew what real pain was, he'll experience the true trials and tribulations of a shinobi's path.
A dark, moonless night plagued the streets of Konoha. Snow fell, slowly but surely covering the ground as a young, blond-haired youth paced towards his home. No one was around, either too afraid of the cold or too lazy during the storm to use chakra and warm themselves. It was all the lone walker could think about as he went home.

'Some of Himawari's hot chocolate would be perfect right now.'

The adolescent blonde knew his sister would be home making it as he stalked there slowly. He began to think about many things, namely his family. His father had better learned to manage his responsibility as village leader and now held a healthy balance between his work and personal life. Their relationship could not have been better.

His mother was still heart-wrenchingly sweet, and he would apologize profusely for his outrageously bratty behavior as a child. His mother was so kind, however, telling him that she loved him even more than she thought she could because he reminded her of his father at that age.

He and his sister were close. Things never changed even as they grew. He had always been quiet in his anger, often venting to his sister more than anyone else. She'd listen patiently, and would often steer him away from bad trains of thought.

Yes, above all else, Boruto Uzumaki loved his sister. He was known amongst his peers as the stereotypical Onii-sama, protector of his imouto. None would dare do wrong by Himawari, lest Boruto hear about it and give them a few choice words and jutsu.

He thought of his team, Mitsuki, Sarada, and Konohamaru.

And just then, Mitsuki himself appeared. White hair, golden snake eyes and a relaxed smile adorned his face. He had changed his attire, abandoning the kimono jacket for a white t-shirt and blue jeans, more in tune with the latest trends in the elemental nations.

The extended time of peace had moved the economy from ninja tools and chakra-conductive materials being the most demanded products to fashion and entertainment systems being the most demanded. Old timers would call this new world lazy and weak in its peace, but the current leaders were almost overjoyed at the idea of children not being put to kill others as a profession.

Now, the most conflict any ninja had would be with bandits and during the chunnin and jonin exams.

But the clothing is what influenced ninjas the most. The latest trend had been on chakra conductive clothing, using cotton from plants that were genetically engineered by scientists to contain chakra.

A t-shirt and blue jeans was about as casual as one could get with such clothing, which is why Mitsuki chose to wear it.

'Being unnoticed is important as a ninja.' He thought to himself as he came to match his teammates stride.

"How's your, um… Orochimaru?" Boruto asked unsurely. He had found it incredibly difficult to call Orochimaru any pronouns, based on the almost-horror stories told by the older generation about the man.

"Boruto-kun, I know it's hard to humanize my parent after all you've heard about him, but from what I've seen, he's changed his ways. Whereas your parents may describe him as a mad man, I'd like to think he's a… sponsor for humanity. I wish you'd understand that." Mitsuki explained with a smile.

"I wish you would stay away from Himawari."

Silence followed.

Himawari was only younger than Boruto by a year, and had grown to be a beautiful girl, now at 15 years old. She, too, was a ninja, and had matured considerably faster than most other girls her age. That same maturity led to her crush on Mitsuki, and their new relationship.

"I've already given you permission to castrate me should I hurt her intentionally." Mitsuki joked. Boruto did not reply, instead abandoning his steady pace into a light jog. The snow crunched underfoot as Mitsuki followed him towards the Uzumaki home.

"It doesn't matter what I'd do to you if she's hurt, she'll still be hurt. And hurting you will only make her angry at me. No, the best way to avoid the situation is to just stop messing around with her." Boruto replied. He began to quicken the pace, wanting the last word of the conversation. Mitsuki was determined, however, and matched his speed quickly.

"Stop running, I'm still injured from earlier." Mitsuki reminded him. Their latest mission had been to take out a bandit group near the southeastern border of Hi No Kuni. These bandits were anomalies, in that they could use ninjutsu but had no village of origin. One of the said jutsu was a jutsu that was supposed to be locked away in the Hokage's library, the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu. It was that same jutsu that had injured Mitsuki's thigh.

"I'm running so you can't convince me to let you date my younger sister. It's messed up, dude."

"What's 'messed up' is how you won't let her live her life." Mitsuki replied with a frown. Boruto snarled at him, and began running at top speed. The home was now within sight, and he had no reply to his friend's accusation. Abandoning the street, he began to hop atop the neon street signs and rafters about the district in order to gain height, forcing Mitsuki to follow him, a solemn expression in his face.

'Few things influence Boruto-kun than seeing others determination.' He thought to himself.

The snow made the chase slippery, but soon Boruto came to a skidding stop atop a tall building's roof, one that had a clear view of the Uzumaki home. From there, he could see that his family was inside and speaking happily amongst each other. He smiled at the face of his younger sister, who couldn't see the Mitsuki he saw. The good friend who was oddly manipulative at times. The snake who would attack all but the ones he cared about.

It wasn't that he didn't trust him, but more that he didn't trust himself. He couldn't stand to see his sister cry, even when they were kids. If something were to happen, he would be torn between assaulting his best friend and being sympathetic towards the end of a relationship.

The blow wouldn't be so hard since they just started dating recently, and he was sure Himawari would get over it in time.

Mitsuki stopped behind him.

"I know what you're afraid of, Boruto. What if we don't work out? But you can't protect her forever. She's her own person, who has to make her own stumbles through life just as we must." Mitsuki offered.

Boruto almost turned to reply, until he saw what he thought was a shooting star coming from the horizon. The small, orange light began to slow, as if it was cresting in its height, then it began to grow in size. Boruto's eyes widened.

"Boruto… What is that?"

"I don't know…" The blond replied. He activated his Byakugan, trying to use his enhanced sight to peer into the light and see what exactly it was. The orange light began to grow even bigger, bringing a sense of alert once Boruto got a clear look of what was inside. His eyes widened once it increased in size dramatically.

He jumped towards his home, aiming for the window on one side. He summoned two clones behind him. All it would take was a second. He would take Himawari, the other two would take his mother and father. The orange chakra mass would probably explode and send a shockwave their way, sure, but not being in the center of the blast would ensure the highest chance for survival. He could do it.

All it would take was one second.

It wasn't meant to be however, as the instant the orange ball came to hit the roof of the home, a large, blue sphere began to repel it, shredding the entirety of the home's roof. It seemed to spin against the smoldering orange ball, until both chakra-charged spheres began to unwind and blister across both surfaces.

He could see his father holding the blue sphere up towards the chakra bomb, as he turned and met eyes with his eldest. They spoke a million words, most of them reassurance, but a small sentence of doubt began to bleed through the determination, and it was all Boruto could understand.

'Get them somewhere safe.'

Boruto's clones picked up his sister and his mother, who had been charging chakra into the rasengan that his father was currently using to hold back the bomb. Immediately, he took their place as he had more than twice their chakra supplies.

"Boruto! Get! Away!" Naruto told his son, who shook his head vehemently. Naruto struggled, his will to spin the chakra fast enough to keep the confrontation between the two techniques wavering. He couldn't focus while his son was there.

"I. Can't. Do. This. With. You. Here! Get away!" Naruto shouted.

Boruto was going to respond, but was stopped as he saw Mitsuki jump over them, towards the massive orange ball. He unfurled a scroll whilst in mid-air, and began to go through hand signs after placing the scroll in his mouth.

After he finished them, he grabbed the scroll as he was cresting over the top of the orange ball.

"Sealing Art: Enclosing Technique!" He shouted. The scroll began to suck in the orange ball, as Boruto and Naruto dispelled the rasengan in order not to hurt the golden eyed adolescent. After a moment, once all of the chakra disappeared, they were given a clear view of the night sky.

Boruto's heart seemed to fall like dead weight into his stomach.

The sky was _littered_ with many orange lights. All of them rapidly approaching Konoha.

In a flash of light beneath Boruto's feet, he, along with his father and Mitsuki, were several stories in the air. The air around them was surrounded with orange light, not unlike the ones littering the sky.

"Tell them Kurama." Naruto said solemnly.

As Hokage, he had plans for these kinds of things. Disasters that could result in the unraveling of everything that held Konoha together. Disease, unstable energy, natural disasters… All of these had set plans that he had to remember and review so he could protect his precious people.

His precious people encompassed all of Konoha.

So, for this particular situation, he had set up an alarm system in the form of an old fox with nine tails.

" **People of Konoha! There is an invasion of your land in progress! Anbu and certain, predetermined high ranking jonin are to report to me! The rest are to guide civilians, genin and chunnin to safety!"** The fox bellowed. Immediately, high-ranking ninja from the village began to congregate around the giant fox.

Among them were Shikamaru Nara as Head Strategist, Sakura Haruno as Head of Medics, Choji Akimichi as Head of the Police Force, Tenten as Head of the Armory, and Ino Yamanaka as Head of Interrogation. Naruto began to bark commands as hundreds of clones began to appear all around Konoha, countering the falling orange balls of chakra. He turned to Mitsuki, who had been steadily feeding chakra into the scroll containing the first large ball of chakra in order to contain it.

"Mitsuki, hand that over…" He requested. Mitsuki hand shook, as he tried his hardest to keep from letting the ball burst out of the scroll. Eventually, Naruto got his hands on it, and steadily held the ball within through the sheer power of his own chakra. Mitsuki stumbled a bit, having spent far too much chakra in what he thought would have saved his girlfriend, and also his best friend's, family.

He knew that the Hokage was strong, but this was absolutely insane.

'He's not even actively channeling chakra into the scroll…' He thought to himself as he awaited orders. The gap of power between average chunnin like he and Boruto was known, but seeing it in person was jaw-dropping.

"Mitsuki, you are to use the Enclosing Technique on as many of the bombs as possible, but let them free on other bombs, it'll help defend against them! Boruto, make sure your mother and sister are alright, then come back for a briefing on your newest mission!"

" _ **Osu!"**_ Both Boruto and Mitsuki replied.

Boruto got to his mother whilst Mitsuki flew off and began using the sealing technique on the cascading bombs.

Hinata assured him that both she and Himawari were alright, and were going to do their part across the village to help the civilians and children find a safe place to hide whilst Konoha countered the invasion. After an exchange of 'I love you's and 'be safe's, Boruto returned to his place by his father's side, awaiting his next assignment. A few hours had passed, as he had found himself helping civilians himself. He was sure his father would understand. The orange balls kept falling.

Naruto turned to his son, and placed a hand on his shoulder before giving his trademark cheesy smile that always made his son embarrassed but proud to be an Uzumaki. In Boruto's peripheral vision, he could see Mitsuki flying through the air and sealing and unsealing the massive bombs quickly, throwing away a scroll once in a while, as they would deteriorate with so much chakra being moved within them. The skies were ablaze with orange explosions of chakra, leaving an almost day-like feel across the village.

"Boruto, I'm going to send you on an S-Rank mission of the highest importance. Are you ready for briefing?" Naruto asked.

Boruto nodded and let his father proceed.

"You, along with Mitsuki of Rice and Sarada Uchiha to find the whereabouts of Sasuke Uchiha. He was last reported to be observing a possible threat to the village in the far north, within the Land of Iron. It has been two days since his last report. The three of you are to find and bring him back as soon as possible in order to counter-act the unknown threat that orchestrated this invasion. Do you understand mission parameters?" Naruto finished.

"Why are you sending us away? Mitsuki, Sarada and I could stop the bombs from hitting Konoha altogether, and then we can find out-"

"First you will follow your Hokage's orders. Go." Naruto said as he turned around.

Boruto stood in shock for a moment, before bowing and jumping away to bring Mitsuki and Sarada to the edge of the village. Mitsuki, slightly drained from his extensive but fleeting sealing techniques, nodded and quickly joined his friend to find their last teammate.

A steely expression adorned Naruto's face as he felt his son's chakra leave the area, and he let out a small breath. He'd never used that tone with his son, and had very, very rarely had to use it with anyone else. None but Naruto would hear it, but deep within him, in the space where he shared his conscious mind with Kurama, he heard the fox grumble.

" **It was for the best."**

It didn't take long for them to find her alongside Hinata and Himawari, guiding the public into a network of caves within the Hokage Mountain.

"Onii-san! I thought you were with Tou-chan!" Himawari said as she hugged him once more. She had seen things. One of the chakra balls fell upon the home of a girl she knew from the academy. They weren't exactly close, but the idea that the entirety of the girl and her family had been absolutely obliterated by something she can't even begin to understand boggled her mind and sent her into an almost frenzied fear. Her mother had been the one to calm her down, though she was worrying incessantly over her father and brother.

She'd been calling her brother's mobile in order to reassure herself of his safety, but had come to be even more worried when it went straight into automatic reply. Now, her heart seemed to beat true once more. He was safe!

"I was with Dad. We're going to be okay Hima-chan, don't worry." Boruto explained. Mitsuki took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head reassuringly in a rare display of affection. Himawari blushed, but fell into the embrace and breathed in his scent deeply, unsure of when they'd be able to hold each other again.

"Sarada, we have to find your father." Boruto explained.

"He's _still_ not here?! Does Hokage-sama know?" Sarada asked as she helped up a small child who fell on his knee. It scraped the boy's skin, leaving him whimpering as his mother tried to drag him along, but Sarada quickly told the woman to wait while she applied a quick healing palm to the 'booboo' before kissing it. When she next looked up, the woman was gone. Her face steeled.

'I'll be damned if some bitch who doesn't have a heart leaves a kid who has literally done no wrong that I can see.' She thought to herself. With a start she picked the boy up and hugged him to her, before meeting his eyes.

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Sarada, dad doesn't know where he is, that's why he's sending us to-" Boruto tried to explain.

"Hold on, Boruto! What's your name, honey? Come on, I won't bite." She said as she hugged him tighter.

The boy was nervous, but quietly replied "F-Fukutsu, with the characters for s-stone and indomababable."

"What was that honey? Did you mean indomitable?" She asked. He nodded slowly, embarrassed at being unable to say the word.

"Indomitable stone, huh? You'll be big and strong one day, then." She smiled happily. The boy smiled, forcing the rest of their hearts to warm.

United they remembered their purpose.

'This… this is what we're fighting for.'

"Go along, Fukutsu, your mother should be inside." Sarada said as she put him down. He walked slowly then fell in pace with the rest of the group, before she turned back to her teammates and nodded with resolve.

"Let's go find my dad."

Mitsuki let go of Himawari, looking down to meet her eyes.

"Take care of yourself and your mother, Himawari. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Boruto on the other hand hugged his mother, who had been watching the scene with a quiet uncertainty. She wasn't sure when she'd see them again, but she would have faith.

"Don't worry mom, we're going to be alright!"

Immediately she began to whimper and tears fell from her face onto his back. He hugged her tighter and rubbed her back.

"Mom, what's wrong? We're going to be okay, dattebasa!"

"You're a splitting image of your father, Boruto. Your family loves you, never forget that."

After a few more goodbyes they were finally out of the village and into the dense forest surrounding it. As usual, whenever Konohamaru wasn't there, Sarada was the leader of the team as the sole Jonin.

It had been almost an hour since Naruto's son left the village. He was sure that they would be alright, as well as all of Konoha would be. He wouldn't see his home fall, not before his dying breath.

The finals instructions to the heads of respective divisions were to protect the Information Department, the hospital, and the armory at all costs. He then ventured south-east, towards the source of the attack alongside Chouji and Shikamaru in order to confront the source of such attacks. Shikamaru had objected heavily against his presence, ever ready to keep his King from venturing too far out into the board with so few protectors, but Naruto's determination to see the culprit with his own eyes outweighed rational thought.

'I'll die before I see Konoha fall.' He thought as he approached the dense forest that surrounded the village.

With a blink of his eyes, he was back at the village, in the center along with Himawari and Hinata. They looked to him, confusion and fear in their eyes as they had just been closing the entrance to the civilian's sanctuary in the village. When Naruto looked around for anything that might have brought him here without Shikamaru or Choji, he saw him.

The man stood tall, taller than Jiraiya, he noted. His hair was short and yellow, though much duller shade than his own, with bangs just long enough to cover his eyes. Affixed to his face was a cocky, condescending smirk that was only accented by the black uniform he wore. On it was the symbol of the Uzumaki Clan, but rotating counter-clockwise instead of the normal clockwise shape, as well as being blue instead of red.

He had his hands clasped firmly behind his back, staring at the remaining Uzumaki in Konoha.

"I see you're missing a member. Probably off to find my pursuer from a few weeks ago. Sasuke, was his name?" The man asked rhetorically. He chuckled at Naruto's frown.

"So it was you who…"

"Yes, and it was also me who performed this wonderful little operation." The man then outright laughed when little Himawari had angrily charged at him, only being held back by her mother.

"Feisty, cousin. Now, let's get to business. You don't know me, but I've known you for a long time. Far longer than you may think." He trailed off as he started pacing around them. The world around them seemed to be in a stasis. Debris did not fall, the orange balls of chakra did not fall, nothing but the man moved.

"I know all of your faults, the things you do when you think no one is looking. As a matter of fact, cousin Naruto, you are the one person who has no real weakness. Interesting, really. Motivated me, made me into the man I was today. Then I realized, your weakness is your loved ones, whose weaknesses are their vices."

"What do you want? Who are you?" Naruto asked. He was starting to lose his patience, and if this man didn't explain, he'd put the hurt on him very, _very_ quickly.

"You." The man said, as he raised his hands towards Naruto. Naruto had begun to charge, but was stopped for a moment, a familiar sensation taking over his body, yet different entirely to what he had felt before.

" **I think this is what you felt during your fight with Pein, the Almighty Push."** Kurama explained from within. Naruto noted that this person may have the Rinnegan, but thought nothing of it until he was lifted into the air.

Preparing for an impact did nothing, but he did feel something. A strange pull at his being, not entirely physical.

In a flash of yellow and blue, Naruto slumped over and struggled to stay standing. Unable to manifest neither his nor Kurama's chakra had left him feeling extremely weak and vulnerable. No draining technique he knew had the capacity nor the speed to take away the entirety of his and Kurama's chakra.

'What the hell…' he thought as the man's face became blurry and he huddled over.

At the angle, right before he passed out, he saw the man's eyes under his bangs. The telltale rings of a Rinnegan user's eyes met his own before darkness came.

"What did you do to him!?" Hinata shouted at the man. Himawari was behind her, but she wouldn't let Naruto fight alone and would always stand in his place when he couldn't. Silence answered her, but just as she was about to move the man held one hand up towards her.

"I've watched you as well, Hinata Hyuga. You are kind. I wonder, has anyone taught you what hate feels like?" He asked. Unable to move, she struggled against her invisible bindings as he approached Naruto's body.

"I… will… not… let… you-" She whispered through clenched teeth. Himawari was simply afraid at this point. Her mother had been among the strongest kunoichi she knew. She had no chance against this man, and she knew. She felt the invisible force holding her down, but she didn't dare move.

"You won't let me what? Do this?" The man asked as he kneeled and spat onto Naruto's face. Instantly her Byakugan flared in anger, yelling at him to stay away from Naruto. He laughed, and sat atop Naruto's back comfortably. The disrespect to her husband had only brought an unknown level of anger. Internally, she promised herself that she would have her way with this monster who would defile her Naruto.

Then, he pulled out a kunai and drove it swiftly and silently into Naruto's neck.

Her world shattered, and she fell to her knees. The man simply stood up, held his hand high and looked towards Himawari, who had crumpled to the floor and began to crawl towards her father's corpse, now free of her shackles. An orange ball began to form in the man's hands.

"Dad… Daddy…" She whispered as she hugged his torso tight against her chest. She couldn't feel his heart beating, and it only made her subtle sobbing lose all tact and break out into absolute agony.

"Your people, well, those who survived the initial attack, will be taken to safety by yours truly. As far as I am concerned, few will die, but know this, Hinata Hyuga and cousin Himawari: The will of fire burns no longer."

The ball in his hand grew to a size that began to eclipse the sky above them. Himawari looked up in fear, as the ball rose ever so slightly out of the man's hands, and into the little bit of sky they could see. Himawari attempted to move her mother, but she had lost all sense of self, staring at the corpse of her everything lying there on the ground.

The ball seemed to grow even larger, before it began to fall slowly.

"Mobiles on one vibration for all notifications, cover their screens correctly at night. We don't know if the enemy is attempting a flank." Sarada said as they prepared to take to the trees. Soon, their tech was ready and their feet were pumping off of branches the size of their tree's trunks. As Sarada had the third level of the sharingan, she took point while Boruto and Mitsuki took her left and right flank.

They were heading north, and would stop for nothing if she had anything to say about it. From Konoha to the Land of Iron would take about a week in walking speed, and 3 days running with 1 hour breaks and 3 hours of sleep per person each night.

"We're doing the usual for sleep. I'll take point and use chakra pulses in order to locate our target for the first 3 hours, then we rotate until break time. It's just turning into day now, so we should have a full day of travel. Watch the area closely and keep your mobiles against you in case we get an alert from home. Understood?" She asked the team.

" **Osu!"** they replied together.

"Team Sarada, increase pace and move out." She commanded.

They'd been moving only for an hour when all three of their mobiles vibrated against their skin. With a shared signal through the use of hand signs, they came to a sudden stop and checked their devices.

"What the-" Boruto tried to say, but was quickly cut off by an arm from Mitsuki. Mitsuki, who had been staring where they had come from, simply pointed. All of their hearts dropped collectively into their stomachs once they saw what began to descend in the distance.

"No way…" Sarada said as she deactivated her sharingan. All the vision she had before was helping her, she realized. Now, with her own natural eyes, it looked even worse.

In the distance, they saw a massive, _massive_ orange ball, eclipsing the light of the rising sun in the east. It seemed to have already been falling, but had yet to burst like the smaller versions of its kind they had seen just a few hours before. They could see dust and debris begin to pour out from the edges of the massive ball of chakra, indicating its landing.

They knew, more than anything, that it was the end. They knew how explosive the balls of chakra were, and one that massive, one that encompassed the entirety of Konoha and its surroundings, would leave nothing. All would be gone.

Boruto fell to his knees, tears breaking out from his eyes as he cursed silently into the air.

All the while, snow fell.

 **AN: Motivation for me is fleeting. It's very,** _ **very**_ **hard for me to write something I don't want to write. That being said, there are so many unfinished versions of the next chapter to 100 Days with Eto. None of them made the cut, none of them satisfied me enough to upload. I'm not a super good writer, I know, but I can't put out something I wouldn't enjoy myself.**

 **This little 'might be but probably won't be something' of a prologue to a story I was thinking about was so satisfying to write. I haven't felt this way in a long time. Please try and understand my feelings, and I thank you for all the support and favorites you guys are still sending me.**

 **~Shawn**


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